Schools & Education
all you need for relocation to scotland: edinburgh
Nursery schools in Edinburgh
From the age of 3, children in Scotland are entitled to free pre-school nursery education (run by councils).
A pre-school education place is usually 5 sessions per week, each session lasting 2 ½ hours (morning or afternoon), for 38 weeks of the year.
If, until your child was 3, he or she attended a private nursery, check if they were a partner provider for The City of Edinburgh Council (applies to other local authorities as well). It is important as parents of all eligible children attending the pre-school nursery will receive grant money from the council – normally every 3 months.
Eligibility
Your child's eligibility for pre-school nursery depends on their birthday:
•If your child turns 3 between 1 March and 31 August they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 1 (August)
•If your child turns 3 between 1 September and 31 December they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 2 (January)
•If your child turns 3 between 1 January and the last day in February they will be entitled to pre-school education from Term 3 (April).
For instance, a child aged 2 in October 2013 would be entitled to join a pre-school nursery run by the council in January 2014.
Applying for a place at nursery
Contact the council nursery school directly to place your child’s name on a waiting list as soon as after his/her 2nd birthday.
Nursery schools are not managed by catchment area, so although you are free to choose city-wide (subject to availability), do bear in mind that placement in a primary school will be based on your home address.
Put differently, pupils who attend a nursery school are not guaranteed a place in the primary school where the nursery school also is, if they do not live within the primary school's catchment area.
Pre-school nurseries in my area
To find pre-school nurseries near your area, visit the Scottish Childcare website.
Funding
The link to the Scottish Childcare website explains simply what you need to do to to secure a funded part-time pre-school education place.
School term dates
To find out about school term dates for 2014/2015 for Edinburgh and the Lothians visit our school term dates page.



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Schools & Education
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